# Is "The Bishop's Apron" by W. Somerset Maugham a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Bishop's Apron by W. Somerset Maugham (Chapman & Hall, 1906) is identified by: First printing in red (rose linen-grain) cloth lettered in gilt on front cover and spine, with "Chapman & Hall" at the foot of the spine. UK Chapman & Hall is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First printing in red (rose linen-grain) cloth lettered in gilt on front cover and spine, with "Chapman & Hall" at the foot of the spine
- The whole edition (about 1,500 copies) was printed from a single casting of type; the publisher added "Second Edition," "Third Edition," and "Fourth Edition" to some title pages to feign strong sales, so the true first bears no edition statement on the title page
- Publisher imprint reads Chapman & Hall
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | W. Somerset Maugham |
| Publisher | Chapman & Hall |
| Year | 1906 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First printing in red (rose linen-grain) cloth lettered in gilt on front cover and spine, with "Chapman & Hall" at the foot of the spine |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First printing in red (rose linen-grain) cloth lettered in gilt on front cover and spine, with "Chapman & Hall" at the foot of the spine. The whole edition (about 1,500 copies) was printed from a single casting of type; the publisher added "Second Edition," "Third Edition," and "Fourth Edition" to some title pages to feign strong sales, so the true first bears no edition statement on the title page. Scarce.

## Is this the true first?
UK Chapman & Hall is the true first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue; beware later "edition" statements struck from the same setting of type.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Bishop's Apron* by W. Somerset Maugham a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-bishops-apron
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.